The country’s jazz scene is young, but it’s hit the world stage quickly thanks in large part to public funding. For Norwegian musicians, it literally pays to dream big — and to write lots of grant applications.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that’s traded online. It’s been on a wild ride lately, soaring in value during the Cyprus banking crisis. And this week, the price plummeted after a Bitcoin trading exchange was hacked.

In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists found brain scans can predict with startling accuracy the likelihood that criminals will run afoul of the law again. The results require serious legal and ethical debate before being introduced into the criminal justice system. David Greene talks to Kent Kiehl, a professor of psychology at the University of New Mexicow, and lead author of this mind research study.

A new exhibit in Berlin’s Jewish Museum is intentionally provocative. The point, one curator says, is to “get people talking about how they perceive Jews, particularly in Germany today.” At the center of the controversy is a display in which a Jew sits inside a glass showcase and answers questions from visitors.

The Brooklyn-based company is profiting where other media companies have failed. From magazines to the web to film, Vice’s CEO says, “We do it weirder, and we do it younger, and we do it in a different way and in a different voice.”

Broadcast TV used to have bigger stars, bigger audiences and bigger budgets. Cable shows were edgier, with more sex and violence than the broadcasters dared show. In the last few seasons, though, cable ratings have improved and broadcast shows have taken more risks. What’s going on on TV?

Ruben Aguilar, 85, was forcibly deported with his family from the U.S. to Mexico at six. While his parents were not American citizens, he was, and at 18, he was drafted by the U.S. Army. Aguilar is a man who “got hurt by his country, came back to this country and is going to die in his country.”

The United States has pledged to remain committed to Afghanistan beyond the year 2014. That’s when the U.S. and its NATO allies are set to hand over the security mission to Afghan forces. But the U.S. has not yet said how many troops will remain in Afghanistan after 2014, and that is causing concern among Afghans.

Rumors abound of a major shakeup in the works for U.S. food aid programs. The U.S. would give aid groups money to buy food wherever they could get it cheapest and quickest, rather than shipping abroad commodities bought in the U.S. Already, groups that profit from the current system are mounting a fight.

Robert Mueller has been the U.S. government’s indispensable man when it comes to national security. When his 10-year term as FBI director expired, the Obama administration asked Congress for an unprecedented two-year extension. But now, the clock is ticking on finding his successor.

More than half of the nation’s pipelines were built before 1970. In fact, ExxonMobil’s Pegasus pipeline, which burst last Friday in Mayflower, Ark., is 65 years old. According to federal statistics, pipelines have on average 280 significant spills a year. Most aren’t big enough to make headlines.

President Obama is expected to name Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, ambassador to Japan. The job has been critical to U.S. trade and business interests with the world’s third largest economy. But Kennedy has no prior experience in government or business.

The president is trying to regain traction for federal gun control measures by visiting states that are moving forward on their own. Today he speaks in Colorado, where public outrage in the wake of mass shootings helped propel new legislation — and where opponents are promising political payback.

The North’s move to block South Korean workers from getting to a jointly run factory is a familiar way for the communist state to show its displeasure. But it comes at a time when tensions are as high as they’ve been in years. And the North’s new leader is inexperienced at this diplomatic game.

When it comes to collecting Social Security benefits, there is no magic age. Today’s boomers can begin collecting full benefits at 66, tap in early at 62 or delay benefits until 70. Mary Beth Franklin of Investment News says the importance of making a smart decision on timing “can’t be underestimated.”

While being forced to tick a single box for “race” has never been a problem for George Washington III, who is black, his mixed-race children see it differently. And for Dave Kung, being allowed to check two races on the U.S. Census form for the first time prompted an unexpected outpouring of emotion.

A study found that 1 in 5 adults ages 20 to 55 who survive strokes will die within 20 years of the event — a rate much higher than doctors expected. The findings mean doctors need to pay a lot more attention to younger stroke survivors.

March 3, 2015 | NPR · Sara Creech’s nursing career fell apart after she returned from Iraq with PTSD. She found purpose – and a new path – on the farm. Now, the USDA is giving veterans like her more financial support.

March 3, 2015 | NPR · Writer Sarah Manguso has been a compulsive diarist since childhood; her new memoir documents the ways motherhood has changed her writing. Critic Heller McAlpin says it’s full of lovely observations.

March 3, 2015 | KCRW · Marc Kinchen, better known as MK, is one-third of new dance-music trio Pleasure State. He joins Metropolis for a discussion of his past, present and future as a prominent producer and remixer.